E-mail interface having an informational tool tip

ABSTRACT

An interface enables perception of information regarding e-mail communications. The interface includes an e-mail application user interface that enables perception of e-mail message information for one or more e-mails received by an e-mail participant and that enables active display of one or more of the received e-mails selected by the e-mail participant, The interface also includes a mechanism that determines a request for e-mail message information for one of the e-mails from within a desired e-mail message that is not actively displayed. The interface further includes an informational tool tip that provides a temporary perceivable indication to the e-mail participant of at least a portion of the requested information for the desired e-mail message while maintaining active display of the one or more selected e-mails.

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/615,475, filed on Sep. 13, 2012, which is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/036,949, filed on Feb. 28, 2011 nowissued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,429,543, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/115,193, filed on May 5, 2008 now issuedas U.S. Pat. No. 7,900,148, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/326,548, filed on Dec. 23, 2002 now issued asU.S. Pat. No. 7,370,277, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/259,844, filed on Sep. 30, 2002 now issued asU.S. Pat. No. 7,421,661, which claims priority to U.S. provisionalapplication Ser. No. 60/376,181, filed Apr. 30, 2002. Each of theaforementioned patent(s), and application(s) are hereby incorporated byreference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The following description relates generally to providing a userinterface and more particularly to providing an informational tool tipfor an e-mail user interface.

BACKGROUND

Online service providers facilitate access to information and servicesby providing interactive L/Is (User Interfaces) that help users navigateto desired resources. Generally, a UI allows a user to executeparticular commands or to link to certain locations by simply selectingscreen objects such as icons, windows, and drop-down menus. The designof a UI has a significant impact on a user's online experience. Inparticular, the icons, the windows, and the menus of a UI may bearranged to enable a user to locate preferred information and servicesquickly and easily.

SUMMARY

In one general aspect, an interface enables perception of informationregarding e-mail communications. The interface includes an e-mailapplication user interface that enables perception of e-mail messageinformation for one or more e-mails received by an e-mail participantand that enables active display of one or more of the received e-mailsselected by the e-mail participant. The interface also includes amechanism that determines a request for e-mail message information forone of the e-mails from within a desired e-mail message that is notactively displayed. The interface further includes an informational tooltip that provides a temporary perceivable indication to the e-mailparticipant of at least a portion of the requested information for thedesired e-mail message while maintaining active display of the selectede-mails.

Implementations may include one or more of the following features. Forexample, the tool tip may be activated in response to participantselection of the desired e-mail message. In one implementation, theparticipant selection is inferred based upon a position of an inputdevice relative to a user interface. For instance, the selection may beinferred based upon maintaining the input device in a position relativeto the user interface for a predetermined threshold period of time. Inanother implementation, the user selection may be an overt selectionactivity. For instance, the overt selection may be carried out bymanipulating a user input device.

In one implementation, the informational tool tip may be rendered in apop up window, and may be rendered as an overlay. The tool tip mayprovide a perceivable indication of less than all of the determinedcontent of the desired e-mail message session. The tool tip is closedautomatically based on a timeout or an inferred intent to close the tooltip, rather than based on an express or overt closing instruction by theuser. For example, intent to close the tool tip may be inferred basedupon the position of a user input device, the movement of a user inputdevice, or a combination of the position of a user input device and theexpiration of a predetermined length of time.

In one implementation, the user interface is a visual interface. Forexample, the desired e-mail message may include a text message and thetemporary perceivable indication may include at least a portion of thetext message. The desired e-mail message may also include an audio-videomessage (e.g., a video message) and the temporary perceivable indicationmay include at least a portion of the audio-video message. In anotherimplementation, the user interface may be an audible interface. Forexample, the desired e-mail message may include an audio message and thetemporary perceivable indication may include at least a portion of theaudio message.

In another general aspect, e-mail information for at least one receivede-mail is shown on a visual user interface. The user interface receivesa request for e-mail information other than the e-mail information shownby the visual user interface, and a pop-up window is rendered withe-mail information other than the information displayed on the visualuser interface while the display of information in the visual userinterface is maintained.

Aspects of the informational tool tip may be implemented by an apparatusand/or by a computer program stored on a computer readable medium. Thecomputer readable medium may comprise a disc, a client device, a hostdevice, and/or a propagated signal. In addition, aspects of theinformational tool tip may be implemented in a client/host context or ina standalone or offline client device. The informational tool tip may berendered in a client/host context and may be accessed or updated througha remote device in a client/host environment. The informational tool tipalso may be rendered by the standalone/offline device and may beaccessed or updated through a remote device in a non-client/hostenvironment such as, for example, a LAN server serving an end user or amainframe serving a terminal device.

Other features will be apparent from the following description,including the drawings, and from the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 and 2 are block diagrams of a communications system.

FIGS. 3 and 7 are flow charts of processes that may be implemented bythe systems of FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIGS. 4A, 4B, 5A, 5B, 6A, 6B, and 6C are illustrations of differentgraphical user interfaces that may be implemented by the systems ofFIGS. 1 and 2 when executing the processes of FIGS. 3 and 7.

Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.For brevity, several elements in the figures described below arerepresented as monolithic entities. However, as would be understood byone skilled in the art, these elements each may include numerousinterconnected computers and components designed to perform a set ofspecified operations and/or may be dedicated to a particulargeographical region.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In general, an informational tool tip may be provided for an e-mail userinterface (UI). An informational tool tip for the e-mail UI is capableof presenting to the user a perceivable indication of at least a portionof an e-mail message that is not being actively displayed. As such, theinformational tool tip is able to accommodate a user who seeks toperceive information about one of the e-mail messages that is notactively displayed to the user, while maintaining active display of thecurrently displayed e-mail message. Although such functionality may beapplied to other communications environments, it may have particularutility when applied to an e-mail environment, where it may be used toquickly view content from within a received message without requiringthe user to open a persistent window dedicated to that message, andwithout requiring the user to otherwise change a current view.

In order to activate the informational tool tip, the user may select adesired e-mail message that is not being actively displayed. Forexample, to activate and render the informational tool tip, the user mayposition a mouse or other viewer input device proximate to or over aninterface tab or icon corresponding to the desired e-mail message. Inresponse, the informational tool tip may be rendered as a pop-up windowand may be rendered in any location on the display.

The informational tool tip may be used to present all or a portion ofthe desired e-mail message other than the selected or default messagedisplayed in the preview pane 417 or other e-mail message UI, and to doso without affecting the display of the default or selected e-mailmessage. In one implementation, a predetermined number of lines orcharacters of content from within the desired e-mail message arepresented. In another implementation, one or more predetermined fieldsof the message are presented. In another implementation, the contentpresented in the tool tip is variable and may depend, for example, uponthe manner or context in which the tool tip was invoked. The contents ofthe desired e-mail message may be made available to the tool tip by, forexample, a client system or a host system, or a combination thereof.

For illustrative purposes, FIGS. 1. and 2 show an example of acommunications system for implementing techniques for transferringelectronic data such as e-mail messages.

Referring to FIG. 1, a communications system 100 is capable ofdelivering and exchanging data between a client system 105 and a hostsystem 110 through a communications link 115. The client system 105typically includes one or more client devices 120 and/or clientcontrollers 125, and the host system 110 typically includes one or morehost devices 135 and/or host controllers 140. For example, the clientsystem 105 or the host system 110 may include one or moregeneral-purpose computers (e.g., personal computers), one or morespecial-purpose computers (e.g., devices specifically programmed tocommunicate with each other and/or the client system 105 or the hostsystem 110), or a combination of one or more general-purpose computersand one or more special-purpose computers. The client system 105 and thehost system 110 may be arranged to operate within or in concert with oneor more other systems, such as, for example, one or more LANs (“LocalArea Networks”) and/or one or more WANs (“Wide Area Networks”).

The client device 120 and the host device 135 are generally capable ofexecuting instructions under the command of, respectively, a clientcontroller 125 and a host controller 140. The client device 120 and thehost device 135 are connected to, respectively, the client controller125 and the host controller 140 by, respectively, wired or wireless datapathways 130 and 145, which are capable of delivering data.

The client device 120, the client controller 125, the host device 135,and the host controller 140 typically each include one or more hardwarecomponents and/or software components. An example of a client device 120or a host device 135 is a general-purpose computer (e.g., a personalcomputer) or software on such a computer capable of responding to andexecuting instructions in a defined manner. Other examples include aspecial-purpose computer, a workstation, a server, a device, acomponent, other physical or virtual equipment, or some combination ofthese capable of responding to and executing instructions. The clientdevice 120 and the host device 135 may include devices that are capableof establishing peer-to-peer communications.

An example of client controller 125 or host controller 140 is a softwareapplication loaded on the client device 120 or the host device 135 forcommanding and directing communications enabled by the client device 120or the host device 135. Other examples include a program, a piece ofcode, an instruction, a device, a computer, a computer system, or acombination of these for independently or collectively instructing theclient device 120 or the host device 135 to interact and operate asdescribed. The client controller 125 and the host controller 140 may beembodied permanently or temporarily in any type of machine, component,physical or virtual equipment, storage medium, or propagated signalcapable of providing instructions to the client device 120 and the hostdevice 135.

The communications link 115 typically includes a delivery network 160making a direct or indirect communication between the client system 105and the host system 110, irrespective of physical separation. Examplesof a delivery network 160 include the

Internet, the World Wide Web, WANs, LANs, analog or digital wired andwireless telephone networks (e.g. Public Switched Telephone Network(PSTN), Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), and DigitalSubscriber Line (xDSL)), radio, television, cable, or satellite systems,and other delivery mechanisms for carrying data. The communications link115 may include communication pathways 150 and 155 that enablecommunications through the one or more delivery networks 160 describedabove. Each of the communication pathways 150 and 155 may include, forexample, a wired, wireless, cable or satellite communication pathway.

FIG. 2 illustrates a communications system 200 including a client system105 communicating with a host system 110 through a communications link115.

The client device 120 typically includes a general-purpose computer 270having an internal or external memory 272 for storing data and programssuch as an operating system 274 (e.g., DOS, Windows™, Windows 95™,Windows 98™, Windows 2000™, Windows Me™, Windows XP™, Windows NT™, OS/2,or Linux) and one or more application programs. Examples of applicationprograms include authoring applications 276 (e.g., word processing,database programs, spreadsheet programs, or graphics programs) capableof generating documents or other electronic content; client applications278 (e.g., America Online (AOL) client, CompuServe client, AOL InstantMessenger (AIM) client, interactive television (ITV) client, InternetService Provider (ISP) client, or instant messaging (IM) client) capableof communicating with other computer users, accessing various computerresources, and viewing, creating, or otherwise manipulating electroniccontent; and browser applications 280 (e.g., Netscape's Navigator orMicrosoft's Internet Explorer) capable of rendering standard Internetcontent and other content formatted according to standard protocols suchas the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).

One or more of the application programs may be installed in the internalor external memory 272 of the general-purpose computer 270.Alternatively, in another implementation, the client controller 125 mayaccess application programs externally stored in and/or performed by oneor more device(s) external to the general-purpose computer 270.

The general-purpose computer 270 also includes a central processing unit282 (CPU) for executing instructions in response to commands from theclient controller 125. The general-purpose computer 270 may include acommunication device 284 for sending and receiving data. One example ofthe communication device 284 is a modem. Other examples include atransceiver, a set-top box, a communication card, a satellite dish, anantenna, a network adapter, or some other mechanism capable oftransmitting and receiving data over the communications link 115 througha wired or wireless data pathway 150. The general-purpose computer 270also may include a television (“TV”) tuner 286 for receiving televisionprogramming in the form of broadcast, satellite, and/or cable TVsignals. As a result, the client device 120 can selectively and/orsimultaneously display network content received by communications device284 and TV programming content received by the TV tuner 286.

The general-purpose computer 270 may include an input/output interface288 that enables wired or wireless connection to various peripheraldevices 290. Examples of peripheral devices 290 include, but are notlimited to, a mouse 291, a mobile phone 292, a personal digitalassistant 293 (PDA), an MP3 player (not shown), a keyboard 294, adisplay monitor 295 with or without a touch screen input, a TV remotecontrol 296 for receiving information from and rendering information tousers, and an audiovisual input device 298.

Although FIG. 2 illustrates devices such as a mobile telephone 292, aPDA 293, and a TV remote control 296 as being peripheral with respect tothe general-purpose computer 270, in another implementation, suchdevices may themselves include the functionality of the general-purposecomputer 270 and operate as the client device 120. For example, themobile phone 292 or the PDA 293 may include computing and networkingcapabilities and function as a client device 120 by accessing thedelivery network 160 and communicating with the host system 110.Furthermore, the client system 105 may include one, some or all of thecomponents and devices described above.

Referring to FIG. 3, an exemplary procedure 300 generally involvesrendering an informational tool tip for an e-mail UI. The procedure 300may be implemented by any type of hardware, software, device, computer,computer system, equipment, component, program, application, code,storage medium, or propagated signal.

In procedure 300, the client system 105 receives one or more e-mailmessages from one or more e-mail senders (step 305). For instance,client system 105 may connect to the host system 110 across a network(e.g., network 160) by supplying a user identification and password to aserver (e.g., a login server) in order to obtain access to the hostsystem 110. The host system 110 may deliver an e-mail message from ane-mail sender across a network 160, and the e-mail message may include,for example, a text message portion, a time of delivery, and a screenname or other identifier for its source.

Next, the client system 105 renders a user interface (UI) illustratingaspects of at least one of the received messages, examples of which aredescribed below with respect to FIGS. 4A, 4B, 5A, 5B, 6A, 6B, and 6C(step 310). In one implementation, the client system 105 renders the UIwhen an e-mail message from an e-mail sender is provided, and may renderother portions of the UI separately at different times. In anotherimplementation, the entire UI, including the e-mail message, may berendered when the e-mail message is provided. In another implementation,the UI is rendered in response to a user action. For example, the UI maybe rendered in response to user selection of an e-mail message. Asshown, the UI may provide a preview of a default or selected message, orit may merely show the subjects of the e-mail messages. The UI may bepresented using a Web page having text, images, audio, video, and/orother type of content.

While maintaining the default or the selected message, the user maydesire to perceive information about a received e-mail message otherthan the selected or default message, and may do so by activating aninformational tool tip (step 315). For example, as discussed below withrespect to FIGS. 4B, 5B, 6B, and 6C, the user may invoke aninformational tool tip by positioning a mouse 425 or other user inputdevice proximate to or directly over an interface item corresponding tothe desired e-mail message. In one implementation, the informationaltool tip 430 is activated as soon as the mouse 425 or other user inputdevice is positioned proximate to or directly over the interface tab. Inanother implementation, the informational tool tip 430 is activated andrendered after the mouse 425 or other user input device remainsproximate to or positioned over the interface tab for a predeterminedthreshold period of time, or after some overt selection activity usingthe mouse or input device. In yet another implementation, the tool tipmay be activated by positioning a mouse or other input device over orproximate to other features of the UI. For example, as shown in FIG. 6B,a user may position the mouse over a new mail status indicator 615 toinvoke a tool tip that displays at least a portion of a new message.Also, as shown in FIG. 6C, a user may position the mouse over an iconrepresenting the desired e-mail message 620 to enable activation of thetool tip.

However, if the user is not configured to invoke the informational tooltip or the tool tip feature is not enabled, the current UI display ismaintained (step 320).

If the user is able to invoke the informational tool tip, then the tooltip is invoked (step 325). Invoking the tool tip may include renderingthe tool tip for a selected e-mail message. As discussed with respect toFIGS. 4B, 5B, 6B, and 6C, the informational tool tip 430 may display allor a portion of the desired e-mail message. In one implementation, apre-determined or limited number of lines or characters of the desirede-mail message are displayed. In another implementation, apre-determined number of e-mail fields are displayed. For instance, asshown with respect to tool tip 430 of FIG. 4B, the tool tip may belimited to include two fields of the e-mail message (e.g., the “from”field 415 c and the “subject” field 415 d) in their entirety and aportion a third field (e.g., the message text). As shown in FIGS. 5B,6B, and 6C, the tool tip 430 may be limited to include only two fieldsof the e-mail message (e.g., the “from” field 415 c and the “subject”field 415 d). The fields of the desired e-mail message may be madeavailable to the tool tip by, for example, the client system 105 or thehost system 110, or a combination thereof. The informational tool tipmay be rendered in various locations on the display, or it may benon-visual.

Display of the informational tool tip may be maintained until revoked(step 330). Display of the tool tip may be revoked upon expiration of apredetermined period of time, or if the user takes some action toimplicitly command removal of the tool tip, e.g., moving the cursor awayfrom a position used to trigger the tool tip (step 335). For example,the informational tool tip 430 may be automatically closed ordeactivated if the user moves the mouse or input device 425, or if themouse or input device 425 is moved from a position over or proximate tothe desired e-mail message.

If the user has revoked the informational tool tip and/or the user is nolonger enabled to invoke the informational tool tip, then the displaydescribed with respect to step 320 is maintained. If the tool tip hasnot been revoked, then the display described with respect to step 330 ismaintained.

While some functions of procedure 300 may be performed entirely by theclient system 105, as described, other functions may be performed by thecollective operation of the client system 105 and the host system 110.For example, the informational tool tip may be rendered entirely by theclient. However, the informational tool tip may be rendered based uponthe host system acting in cooperation with the client.

In one of various possible implementations, a client system 105 and ahost system 110 may interact according to procedure 300 to provide ane-mail tool tip for an e-mail UI. Although not shown in FIG. 3, theclient system 105 and the host system 110 may be directly or indirectlyinterconnected through known or described delivery networks, examples ofwhich are described with respect to network 160 of FIG. 1. In such anenvironment, the e-mail UI may be accessed or updated through a remotedevice. In another implementation, the procedure 300 may be implementedin a standalone or offline client context. The e-mail UI may be renderedby the standalone/offline device and may be accessed or updated througha remote device in a non-client/host environment such as, for example, aLAN server serving an end user or a mainframe serving a terminal device.Thus, procedure 300 may be implemented for any e-mail UI of any OSP,ISP., or browser.

FIG. 4A illustrates one example of an e-mail user interface (UI) 400Athat may be presented to a user in response to user manipulation of ageneral interface actionable item, such as item 610 discussed withrespect to FIGS. 6A and 6B. Although UI 400A may be generated remotelyand delivered to a user client system 105, in general, the UI 400A willbe rendered on or at the client system 105 using software stored on theclient system 105. The UI 400A includes a folder list 405 that lists thevarious folders in which e-mail may be placed. For example, new mailfolder 405 a may contain new e-mail messages, old mail folder 405 b maycontain old e-mail messages, sent mail folder 405 c may contain mailsent by the user, and deleted mail folder 405 d may contain e-mailmessages deleted by the user.

UI 400A also includes a display area 415 that displays e-mail messageswithin a designated folder 405 a contained in folder list 405. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 4A, display area 415 contains a list ofmessages 410 contained in designated new mail folder 405 a. The messages410 include messages 410 a, 410 b, 410 c, 410 d, and 410 e. Each message410 contains one or more fields. For example, the messages 410 shown indisplay area 415 each contain a type field 415 a, a date field 415 b, afrom field 415 c, and a subject field 415 d. A set of controls 420 isprovided for the user to manipulate each of the e-mail messages 410.Controls 420 include a control 422 that enables the user to read one ofthe e-mail messages 410. Once control 422 is acted on by a user, thecorresponding e-mail message is read and a separate UI is rendered inorder for the user to read the designated e-mail message.

A preview pane 417 is provided to allow a user to preview a default or aselected message. In the example of FIG. 4A, the preview pane 417 showsinformation about a selected or default message 410 a, including the“From” field 415 c, the “To” field 417 a, the “Date” field 415 b, the“Subject” field 415 d, and a portion of the message text 417 b. Thepreview pane display remains visible unless manually deactivated by usermanipulation of UI display control options.

FIG. 4B illustrates another example of an e-mail UI 400B that is similarto the example discussed above with respect to FIG. 4A. In the exampleof FIG. 4B, an informational tool tip 430 is invoked on the e-mail UI toprovide the user with a perceivable indication of least of a portion ofan e-mail message that is not otherwise being actively displayed. Forexample, the informational tool tip 430 may show all or a portion of thedesired e-mail message 410 b.

In the example of FIGS. 4A and 4B, the standard interface beingdisplayed includes a subject line for the non-selected e-mail messages410 b, 410 c, 410 d, 410 e, but it does not display the body of thesenon-selected e-mail messages. Yet, in the example of FIG. 4B, inresponse to a user action with respect to e-mail message 410 b (e.g.,movement of a cursor 425 over e-mail 410 b), the tool tip 430 is invokedto enable perception of at least a portion of the body of e-mail message410 b. More specifically, to activate and render the informational tooltip 430, the user may position a pointer 425 of a mouse or other userinput device proximate to or over a field corresponding to e-mailmessage 410 b.

As shown in FIG. 4B, the pointer 425 is positioned over the type field415 a for e-mail message 410 b. In another implementation, theinformational tool tip 430 is activated and rendered after the pointer425 remains proximate to or positioned over a field of the desirede-mail message 410 b for a predetermined threshold period of time, orafter some overt activities taken using the mouse or input device withrespect to e-mail 410 b.

The user may close or deactivate the informational tool tip 430. In oneimplementation, the informational tool tip 430 may be automaticallyclosed or deactivated if the user moves the pointer 425. For example, ifthe pointer 425 is moved from a position over or proximate to thedesired e-mail message 410 b. As shown in the implementation of FIG. 4B,the informational tool tip shows all or a portion of the body of thedesired e-mail message 410 b.

FIG. 5A illustrates one example of an e-mail user interface (UI) 500Adisplaying a particular received e-mail message 410 a. The UI 500A showsinformation about the selected or default message 410 a, including the“From” field 415 c, the “To” field 417 a, the “Date” field 415 b, the“Subject” field 415 d, and the message text 417 b. UI 500A may includeinterface controls 505, including interface controls that display theprevious 505 a and the next 505 b e-mail messages.

FIG. 5B illustrates an example of an UI 500B similar to UI 500Adescribed above with respect to FIG. 5A. In the example of FIG. 5B, aninformational tool tip 530 may be provided for UI 500B to provide theuser with a perceivable indication of at least a portion of an e-mailmessage that is not otherwise being actively displayed by UI 500A. Forexample, in response to a mouse rollover of the Next button, theinformational tool tip 530 may show all or a portion of the desirede-mail message 410 b with e-mail sender “GabbyGrace,” without the userneeding to take action that would cause the desired e-mail message 410 bto replace e-mail message 410 a as the selected or default message. Inthe example of FIG. 5B, the tool tip 530 shows the from field and thesubject field of message 410 b. The informational tool tip may berendered in various locations on the display. For example, the tool tipmay be rendered proximate or close to the interface control 405 b towhich the tool tip corresponds, which, in this case, is near the Nextbutton.

FIG. 6A illustrates an example of a user interface (UI) 600A that may bepresented to a user of an online service provider such as AOL. The UI600 includes a toolbar 605 for quickly enabling activation of featuressuch as, for example, reading or writing e-mail, exchanging IM messageswith another user, entering chat areas with other users, shopping oraccessing the Internet. The toolbar 605 may include one or more generalinterface actionable items 610, 620, 630, 640, and 650, each of which isconfigured to enable activation of an associated UI. The actionable itemmay be, for example, a button or a tab.

FIG. 6B illustrates another example of an e-mail user interface (UI)600B that may be presented to a user. UI 600B is similar to the examplesdiscussed above with respect to FIG. 6A. In the example of FIG. 6B, aninformational tool tip 630 may be provided for the UI 600B to providethe user with perceivable indication that at least a portion of ane-mail message not otherwise actively displayed. For example, as shownin FIG. 6B, the display of all e-mail UIs have been minimized, and a newmail indicator 615 is provided for the user and indicates that a newe-mail message is present. As shown, a user has positioned a pointer 425proximate to or directly over new mail indicator 615 in order to renderthe informational tool tip 630. In response, the informational tool tip630 is activated as described previously with respect to FIGS. 4B and5B.

FIG. 6C illustrates another example of an e-mail user interface (UI)600C that may be presented to a user. UI 600C is similar to the examplesdiscussed above with respect to FIGS. 6A and 6B. In the example of FIG.6C, icons 620, 625, 630 correspond to e-mail messages which have beenminimized and are not presently being displayed. In the example of FIG.6C, a user has positioned a pointer 425 proximate to or over icon 620 inorder to render the informational tool tip 630.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary procedure 700 for opening and populatinga tool tip window. The procedure 700 may be implemented by any type ofhardware, software, device, computer, computer system, equipment,component, program, application, code, storage medium, or propagatedsignal.

In procedure 700, the overt or inferred selection of an interface tab orother interface item corresponding to an e-mail is detected (step 705).For example, a selection may be inferred by the positioning of a pointerover or proximate to the interface tab or other interface item. In oneimplementation, if the position of the pointer is proximate to orpositioned over the interface tab, or remains so positioned for apredetermined threshold period of time, a selection of the interface tabor other interface item is inferred. An overt selection of an interfacetab or other interface item may also be made. For example, a button orother control on a mouse or other input device may be manipulated tomake the overt selection.

The current window information is maintained (step 710). For example,referring to FIG. 5A, display of the selected or default e-mail message410 a is maintained.

Next content from within the e-mail message corresponding to theinterface tab or other interface item is retrieved (step 715). In oneimplementation, all of the content of the e-mail message is retrieved.In another implementation, only a portion of the content of the e-mailmessage is retrieved. The tool tip is then opened and populated (step720) with the retrieved content. For example, the tool tip may be openedand may appear as a rectangular pop-up window proximate to the interfacetab over which the mouse is positioned. In other implementations, thetool tip may be opened in other locations on the display. The window maybe automatically closed based on a timeout or based on an inferredintent to close the window, rather than an express or overt closinginstruction by the user.

The relative placement of steps of described processes with respect toother steps and with respect to each other, such as, for example, steps305-335 in FIG. 3 and steps 705-720 in FIG. 7, may vary, and one or moresteps may be eliminated altogether.

Other implementations are within the scope of the following claims. Forexample, although the examples above are given in an e-mail context,other communications systems with similar attributes may be used. Also,the UI may be a viewable interface, an audible interface, a tactileinterface, or any combination thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. An interface that enables perception ofinformation regarding e-mail communications, the interface comprising:an e-mail application user interface that enables perception of e-mailmessage information for one or more e-mails received by an e-mailparticipant and that enables active display of one or more of thereceived e-mails selected by the e-mail participant; a mechanism thatdetermines a request for e-mail message information for one of thee-mails from within a desired e-mail message that is not activelydisplayed; and an informational tool tip that provides a temporaryperceivable indication to the e-mail participant of at least a portionof the requested information for the desired e-mail message whilemaintaining active display of the one or more selected e-mails.
 2. Theinterface of claim 1 in which the tool tip is activated in response toparticipant selection of the desired e-mail message.
 3. The interface ofclaim 2 in which the participant selection is inferred based upon aposition of an input device relative to a user interface.
 4. Theinterface of claim 3 in which the participant selection is inferredbased upon maintaining the input device in a position relative to theuser interface for a predetermined threshold period of time.
 5. Theinterface of claim 2 in which the participant selection comprises anovert selection activity using a user input device.
 6. The interface ofclaim 1 in which the informational tool tip is rendered in a pop upwindow.
 7. The interface of claim 1 in which the informational tool tipis rendered as an overlay.
 8. The interface of claim 1 in which aperceivable indication comprises a perceivable indication of less thanall of the e-mail message information.
 9. The interface of claim 1further comprising automatically closing the tool tip.
 10. The interfaceof claim 9 in which the tool tip is automatically closed based upon anexpiration of a predetermined length of time.
 11. The interface of claim9 in which the tool tip is automatically closed based upon an inferredintent to close the tool tip.
 12. The interface of claim 11 in which theintent to close the tool tip is inferred based upon a position of a userinput device.
 13. The interface of claim 11 in which the intent to closethe tool tip is inferred based upon a movement of a user input device.14. The interface of claim 11 in which the intent to close the tool tipis inferred based upon a position of a user input device and anexpiration of a predetermined length of time.
 15. The interface of claim1 in which the interface comprises a visual interface.
 16. The interfaceof claim 1 in which the interface comprises an audible interface. 17.The interface of claim 1 in which the desired e-mail message comprises atext message and the temporary perceivable indication comprises at leasta portion of the text message.
 18. The interface of claim 1 in which thedesired e-mail message comprises an audio message and the temporaryperceivable indication comprises at least a portion of the audiomessage.
 19. The interface of claim 1 in which the desired e-mailmessage comprises a video message and the temporary perceivableindication comprises at least a portion of the video message.
 20. Acomputer program, stored on a computer readable medium, comprisinginstructions for: rendering an e-mail application user interface thatenables perception of e-mail message information for one or more e-mailsreceived by an e-mail participant and that enables active display of oneor more of the received e-mails selected by the e-mail participant;determining a request for e-mail message information for one of thee-mails from within a desired e-mail message that is not activelydisplayed; and rendering an informational tool tip that provides atemporary perceivable indication to the e-mail participant of at least aportion of the requested information for the desired email message whilemaintaining active display of the one or more selected e-mails.